As the Apple Turns: Scene 241: Dull Day in Court (12/5/97)

Dull Day in Court (12/5/97)

Today was the first day in court in this latest Microsoft vs. the Department of Justice fracas, and things went about as expected. Judge Thomas "Pokey" Jackson made no ruling in the case, but asked what we thought were some surprisingly good questions, which fact is somewhat alleviating our fears that he may not be computer-literate enough to grasp the particulars of the case. There's some pretty detailed coverage over at PC Week.

Microsoft continues to state that they are operating within the bounds of the 1995 consent decree when they require all PC vendors to ship their Windows systems preloaded with Internet Explorer, because IE is an "integrated component" of Windows 95. The DoJ still states that Microsoft only decided to "integrate" IE into Windows well after the consent decree was put into effect, as a way of dodging its restrictions. There were two particularly noteworthy points made: First, Microsoft insisted that it's consumer demand that is driving the preinstallation of IE, to which the DoJ responded by asking why Microsoft is therefore requiring the bundling in their contracts. Secondly, Judge Jackson asked the Microsoft representative exactly what was different about the "integration" of Internet Explorer and the possible integration of Word or Excel into the OS, to which Microsoft replied that there was no technological difference (though it wouldn't make "economic sense" for them to integrate those products).

The case has been submitted and Judge Jackson will give a ruling in his own sweet time. More as we get it...

SceneLink (241)

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The above scene was taken from the 12/5/97 episode:

December 5, 1997: (Sorry—this was before we started writing intro text for each episode!)

Other scenes from that episode:

242: A Mac in Every QuickTime (12/5/97) One of the things we love about Mac OS Rumors (and there's a lot to love) is their unhesitating willingness to print information that is so wacky, it borders on the bizarre. Today they skeptically include a nifty little piece about how most of the Macintosh Toolbox (the collection of routines that Mac developers use in their programs) actually exists within the Windows distribution of Quicktime...
243: Lockdown on Cell Block D (12/5/97) When it comes to FTP rights, Mac developers are "in the box" for an indefinite period of time, following Apple's lockdown of its Developer Seeding FTP site. Up til now, Apple has made beta software available on the net so that developers could get the fastest access possible, without having to wait for the monthly CD-ROM shipment...

Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast...


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